Ɛpsilon

To the Geological Society of London1   [c. 28 December 1863]2

George Maw FLS FSA FRHS— VP of The Severn valley Field Club member of The R Agricultural College3 & member of the Council of the British Archæological Association residing at Benthall Hall near Broseley4—being desirous of admission into the GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, WE, the undersigned, recommend him as a proper person to become a FELLOW thereof.

Jan.2.18645

Charles Darwin6 From Personal | knowledge

W. S. Symonds of Pendock7

J. Gwyn Jeffreys8

Edwd Meryon9

Jos. Prestwich10

Proposed

Notice of Ballot

(Elected

(No.

1
The proposal form for George Maw’s election as fellow of the Geological Society was presumably sent by CD at about the same time as the letter from Emma Darwin to George Maw, 28 December 1863. The proposal was formally registered on 6 January 1864, the notice of ballot was given on 20 January, and Maw was elected on 24 February 1864 (Geological Society Archives, F1/6).
2
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Emma Darwin to George Maw, 28 December 1863 (see n. 1, above).
3
In 1860 Maw was elected fellow of the Linnean Society and of the Society of Antiquaries (List of the Linnean Society of London 1860, List of the Society of Antiquaries of London 1861). The document also refers to Maw’s fellowship of the Royal Historical Society and vice-presidency of the Severn Valley Naturalists’ Field Club (see also n. 6, below). Maw was a member of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Gloucestershire; the college awarded him a diploma with honours in 1852 (Bathurst and Kinch eds. 1898, p. 178).
4
Broseley was a village in Shropshire, approximately fourteen miles south-east of Shrewsbury (Survey gazetteer of the British Isles).
5
The date apparently refers to the date of the last signature, and must have been added after CD had signed the fellowship proposal.
6
See letter from Emma Darwin to George Maw, 28 December 1863. Maw initiated a correspondence with CD in March 1861, and sent CD a presentation copy of his review of Origin in July 1861 ([Maw] 1861). See Correspondence vol. 9, letter to George Maw, 13 July [1861]. See also Correspondence vol. 10, and this volume, letter to George Bentham, 15 April [1863]. In February 1863, Maw had been instrumental in CD’s acceptance of an honorary membership of the Severn Valley Naturalists’ Field Club (see letters from George Maw, 19 February 1863 and 25 February 1863).
7
William Samuel Symonds. Symonds was rector of Pendock, Worcestershire (DNB). This signature and the signatures which follow (see nn. 8–10, below) were presumably added after CD had signed the fellowship proposal.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4360F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4360F